1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to treatments for preventing or reducing contact dermatitis caused by plant resins, and in particular to the use of cleansers and strippers for removing plant resins from the skin.
2. Description of Related Art
Poison oak, poison ivy, poison sumac, poison wood and approximately 150 other plant species are members of the genus Rhus, a shrub or small tree growing in tropical and temperate areas of the Americas, Europe and Asia. Many of these plants exude a sticky, resinous sap containing urushiol, a powerful irritant which can cause a severe skin rash. The resinous saps of other types of plants can also irritate the skin. The severity of the irritation can be greatly reduced when the resin is quickly and thoroughly removed from the skin. However plant resins stick to the skin and are not readily dissolved or removed.
Various methods for removing plant resin from the skin have been suggested. The most commonly suggested method is to wash the affected area with soap. Since some soaps contain oils that spread the resin to other areas of the skin, brown laundry soap made from saponified fats which do not contain the oils found in most bath soaps is preferred. Some people have suggested the use of dilute acids such as oxalic acid (contained in rhubarb), tannic acid (oak bark), and acetic acid (vinegar) to dissolve the plant resin. However while helpful, neither soap nor dilute acids completely remove the resin from the skin because plant resin, being a complex substance, is not completely dissolved by either type of wash.
What is needed is a system for effectively removing substantially all plant resin from affected areas the skin.